'Eye-watering Stand-in boss cost council £231,000 for just seven months' work

THE temporary boss of Bristol City Council cost taxpayers £231,314 for seven months' work last year - equal to an “eye-watering” £396,538 for a full 12 months.

- Adam POSTANS

The payment, which includes an unspecified cut to a recruitment agency, went to interim chief executive and head of paid service Paul Martin, who was in charge of staff at the authority from June to December, 2024.

Other lucrative short-term senior roles included chief financial officer Tony Kirkham who cost £250,413 over nine months £333,884 pro-rata according to the council's annual draft statement of accounts from April 1, 2024, to March 31 this year.

Director of education Vik Verma was paid £157,978, including agency fees, comprising eight months as an interim from July 2024 and one month as an employee about £234,000 for a yearly rate.

And Bristol Waste interim managing director Dave Knight cost £146,813 over seven months, or £251,679 pro-rata.

Conservative Cllr Jonathan Hucker said: “The council continues to hire expensive interims and there are a couple of examples in the year where the levels of pay were absolutely eye-watering.

“This highlights the need for succession planning.